If She Didn't Come
by Alex35014
Summary: We all know how the story goes. The Silver Boulders break up, Rosalina comes and talks to Nat, she joins his band, and the NBB is formed! But what if she didn't come? Follow Nat, Rosalina, Cooper and the…Gold Boulders…as we find out how different their lives would be had Rosalina never joined the NBB.
1. The NBB Dream

**Being more people seemed to like the idea than dislike, I decided to go for it. So here's the first chapter. We'll see how it goes, now won't we :) Feel free to tell me your honest opinions at any time after chapter two, when things start to pick up a little bit, even if you hate it.**

**No ownership of the Naked Brothers Band. Just a huge fan who wishes they hadn't left us at a cliffhanger, not knowing who Nat actually chooses (personally, I think Rosalina, but the series never actually says, unfortunately).**

"Alex, we should go back to being the Naked Brothers Band. Just the two of us."

"Don't bother me. I drank too many lemon lime sodas. I need to sleep"

"Ok." Alex rolled over and fell asleep while I kept watching different people, from the Adorable Timmerman Brothers to Mort Needleman, talking about the failure of the Silver Boulders and criticizing me as the leader of the band. Mort also ragged on Alex's lemon lime soda addiction. Other people were sending out their pleas for the Silver Boulders to get back together. One guy said his daughter had locked herself in her room and wouldn't come out until we were back together. I also quickly found out that the jerks who ditched us were still going on tour, now as The Gold Boulders.

The next day, I was sitting at the window, looking down at the crowd of people who wanted the Silver Boulders to get back together, when I heard the doorbell. I'd never say it out loud, but I hoped it was Rosalina. Of all my friends, she was the one I most wanted to see. Ok, and maybe I sort of love her. I mean, I guess that was sort of obvious. I did write a song about her. I even named it after her. Unfortunately, it wasn't Rosalina, it was Cooper.

"Hi Nat."

"Hi Coop."

"May I come in?" I let him in. "So I was just talking to Mr. Williams. He said that we need to get a new band together or the Gold Boulders are going to take over the tour."

"Cool! I was just talking to Alex about reforming the Naked Brothers Band, just me and him!"

"Nat, I think you need more than two people to be a 'band'. I'd get at least two more people. I'm not sure I can sell a two man band to Mr. Williams."

"Ok, I'll get in touch with Cole. Maybe he still plays guitar. He was an original Naked Brother anyways."

"Sounds good, Nat. I think you should hold auditions for the fourth spot." I agreed, and so we did.

First, I got in touch with Cole. He said that he did still play guitar, and would love to rejoin the Naked Brothers Band. He did have a couple of conditions, the big one being no band uniforms, cause he liked to do his own thing. Luckily we were totally cool with that. As long as we got Cole, we believed that we could actually do this. Then came the auditions.

It was me, Alex, Coop, and Cole watching person after person come in, but nobody stood out as the fourth Naked Brother. Most of them couldn't even actually play instruments. At least we got free massages out of it from one of the guys. We all went back to Alex and my apartment discouraged. I held hope for a miracle. None came. We never got the fourth member of the band.

When we went to talk to Mr. Williams, he was disappointed. He asked if there was anyone at all who would join as our fourth member. He even asked about Rosalina, who Cooper had apparently told him about. We all said we didn't think she played any instruments, and being she didn't come to auditions, we guessed that she had no interest. Mr. Williams just shook his head and said that, unfortunately, he had to let us go.

The dream of the Naked Brothers Band was dead.

Alex lost all control. He became even more addicted to lemon lime soda. Dad actually booked him for a sodaholic cruise, and went with him on it. Being I was only nine, and couldn't stay home alone, I stayed with the Pillots while dad and Alex were away. Apparently my dad had forgotten about Jesse, but it was cool. I liked the Pillots, and looked forward to getting to hang out with Coop a lot.

We spent a couple of days talking about what we were going to do now.

"Nat, this isn't the end. So you're going through a rough patch. All the best musicians do."

"I know, Coop, but what can we do? Mr. Williams won't take us with any less than four. Even if Cole sticks around, which probably won't happen, we'd only have three. And who's gonna take three kids seriously? You already tried to sell the Silver Boulders to every record company in New York. If they didn't take a five man band seriously, what makes us think they'll take us seriously with three?"

"I don't know, Nat, but we have to try something. You have so much music in you, you'll probably explode if you don't get it out."

"You're right, Coop. We'll figure this out."

The next week, Cooper and I watched the Gold Boulders' concert on TV. They opened with Josh's song I'm the God of Rock and Roll. The audience let out a small cheer, probably not knowing whether this was real or not. The Gold Boulders played a couple more bad songs, but the audience loved it. I guessed even they realized how bad of an idea it would be to play Boys Rule, Girls Drool. It was never played.

The Gold Boulders went huge overnight, while Alex and I remained nobodies. Well, not nobodies. We would always be remembered as members of the former Silver Boulders. Which now did make us as good as nobodies. With the Gold Boulders going huge, people started believing that I was the "Rock and Roll Mussolini", whoever Mussolini was. Apparently he wasn't a good guy. People started giving me mean looks, and telling Alex how sorry he was that he had me for a brother. They would tell him it must be so hard growing up with someone as controlling as me. He would yell at them, telling them that I was the nicest guy in the world. But the damage was done. People had their opinions of me, and my career was over.

That was the day I decided I was done with music. I was only nine, but I already saw the hurt it could bring, and I wanted no parts of it. I silently apologized to my mom. She wanted us to follow our dreams and become rock stars, but I just couldn't do it now. When Alex came back and I told him, he was mad. Cooper supported me, even though I knew he didn't want to.

And that was that. That day, the idea of the Naked Brothers band died, and so did part of me. Not only did I lose my music, but I also never saw Rosalina again. And honestly, I never expected to see her again. I even laughed at how stupid I was to think she would ever love me. She was two years older than me. I was lucky she even knew my name. So I tried to move on.

I lived my own life until freshman year of college. It wasn't a perfect life, but it was the life I had come to know and be ok with, in a way. However, everything changed when I went the Friday before classes started for the University of Florida's "orientation"

That was when the world I had known was flipped upside down.


	2. A New, Fresh Start

**To make up for the fact that I took so long to post, you guys get two chapters tonight! This story might take a little longer to update, because I realized that what I had written was moving too fast, so I'm rewriting it.**

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Let me tell you something, quitting music cold turkey sucks. I became a lot grumpier overall, and also very disconnected with people. Did I have an open relationship with my father? Forget it. He didn't know a thing about my life. He didn't even know what colleges I applied to, not for his lack of trying.

Did I get along with my brother? Well, it depends on what you mean by 'get along.' We didn't kill each other, if that counts. We fought every day, most times several times a day. Every decision I made, he had to criticize and disagree with, or he would just tell me I was plain stupid. Not like that brat understands a thing about my life. He was just angry because I made the smart choice to give up on music when he couldn't. He's never forgiven me for it, either, obviously. He's still a musician, but all he's been able to get are small gigs at the local jazz club and one performance at a Little Kids Rock charity event. And that was pure luck.

Did I have friends? No. Well, that's not entirely true. I did have one friend, still. Cooper Pillot. Yes, the same guy who I stayed with all those years ago. The one whom I watched the Gold Boulders concert with, and the one who had tried to talk me into finding another musical path before I decided music really wasn't for me. He's the only one who still puts up with me and my moodiness. He's currently dating Patty Scoggins, a girl he met at that Little Kids Rock charity event when he went with Alex. He kind of acts like Alex's manager.

Being the Gold Boulders were still a huge name, they were always on tour or doing other 'rockstar' type things, so I never saw them. The media was making such a huge hype over the fact that they were all starting college, but I never paid attention to which one they chose. Quite honestly, I never cared enough. They were jerks, and as far as I was concerned, if they had gone to school on Mars, it was too close.

Did I have a love life? Ha! That's actually really funny. I'm a nobody. No girl in their right mind WANTS to date a nobody. Heck, most girls take one look at me and you'd think I was gum on the bottom of their shoe. Actually, I think the gum might have gotten a better look than me. It probably didn't help that I still heard people whispering the old rumors about me. That whole Mussolini crap. Again, who wants to be with someone who's 'super controlling'?

But now I was in college. A new, fresh start. I had been accepted at the University of Florida, the only school that took me. Not that I had any idea what I wanted to major in, but when only one school accepts you…you go to that school. My dad complained about how we would pay tuition, but even he had to admit that it was better than sitting at home and becoming nothing at all.

This was orientation. The way it works here is that we're brought up three days before classes start, and did lots of "icebreaker" activities to help us make friends, as well as get tours of the campus and have time to get to school store to get our books. I had no plans of trying to make friends, but I went along with what we were told to do.

Right now, we were getting split into groups to be taken on a campus tour led by a current student before lunch. I was put in group C. Luckily, so was Cooper. He had been accepted to a bunch of schools, but he said he came here with me because he wanted to make sure I would be ok. As if I needed it. I was perfectly fine.

"Hey guys!" Our tour guide came over to our group. Her brunette hair went slightly below her shoulders. We all mumbled a 'hey' in return. She looked vaguely familiar. I looked at Cooper, who was looking at the girl with really wide eyes. I leaned over and nudged him.

"You know, you keep that up, and Patty will get jealous. She'll think she has competition." I laughed. Cooper was about to respond when she came over.

"Is there something funny? Something you'd like to share with the whole group?"

"Besides how ridiculous this whole thing is? Nope."

"Oh great, a real comedian. What's your name?"

"A girl who has a major in journalism and can't read a nametag? Remind me not to read any of your articles." I could tell I was frustrating her. Which I was totally ok with. She looked like she was going to say something, but Cooper stepped in.

"I'm so sorry. He's really antisocial. He generally tries to go out of his way to make sure people don't like him. Don't take what he said personally. I swear, he's actually a decent guy, and I promise I'll keep him under control from now on." The girl and I both looked at Cooper shocked. She seemed to think about it for a second.

"I'll let it go, this time. But," She stopped to read my nametag. "Nat, you need to get over your antisocial habits. They won't help you here. Maybe try being nice to people now and then." She said before going back to the front of the group and leading us off.

"What was that all about, Coop? You looked like you'd seen a ghost or something. And then stepping in and stopping me from arguing with her? Usually you just let me go, knowing you can't do anything. What made this a special case?" Cooper got instantly flustered. I could tell he was about to make something up. Anything but the truth.

"Oh, you know, I just didn't think it was a good idea to make an enemy of an upperclassman here. She probably has a bunch of upperclassmen friends, and if you're a jerk to her, she can spread the word and can probably make your life on campus miserable."

"And when have I ever cared about any of that? You know that me and people don't get along. At all."

"I know, but I thought you wanted a fresh start at college. How can you get that if you're already making enemies?"

"I guess you're right. I dunno, I just can't help but think that she's familiar to me somehow, though. You know her, Coop?"

"Nope, never seen her in my life before today." I shook my head at his lie, but let it go. He'll tell me the truth when he was ready to. I spent the rest of the tour trying to figure out why this girl looked familiar.

"And now, if you'll turn your attention to the back of our group, you can see Nat, who has so obviously been staring at me through this whole tour." She said as if this was a part of a normal tour. I felt myself blush a little as everyone gave slightly different reactions, from snickering to some of the guys yelling "get some!"

"And would you like to explain why you were staring at me, Nat?"

"Well doesn't someone have a high opinion of themselves? How do you know I didn't just space out and you happened to be in my line of sight as I stared into space?"

"Honestly, I don't."

"Exactly, princess. You don't know a thing about me, so quit pretending you do." Cooper tugged at my sleeve.

"Nat, remember what I just told you a little bit ago about making enemies? Just try to remember your manners."

"My manners!? Why should this girl deserve any of my 'manners' when she hasn't even given us her name?" I said loud enough for her to hear. She rolled her eyes.

"For your information, Nat, my name is Rosalina."

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**As always, your reviews are all welcome, even if they're flames. The box is just down there. It takes less than a minute, and it brightens my immensely boring day.**


	3. Who in the world are you?

**Ok, before the chapter starts, I want to say that I am so so so so sooooooooooooo sorry it's taken me THIS long to update anything. My schoolwork has been keeping me REALLY busy, between writing papers and reading a ton of stuff (life of an English Education major). I also want to apologize for how short this chapter is. After so long of writing for academic papers, I have to get back in the swing of writing for fun and from the POV of Nat Wolff. I'm going to try to get back to updating regularly. Again, I'm so sorry that it's taken so long and I hope you all still want to read my stuff, because you all make it worth it.**

Rosalina.

Now that name really did sound familiar, but I couldn't put a finger on it. I shook my head. Why did I even care about it? This girl meant nothing to me. She was just another person who needed to be pushed away.

"Well, Rosalina, glad to know you actually do have a name, after all. Now I know the name of the person whose trying to push me to be something I'm not."

"I don't think that's true, Nat. I think that you could be the person I'm trying to help you be. I don't know what happened to make you so bitter, but it can't be any worse than anything that anyone else here has gone through."

"You know what, forget this. You clearly don't care. I was mistaken to think that you would, to think that anyone would." I turned on my heel and immediately headed for the parking lot, with every intention of getting out of here ASAP. I heard Rosalina say something to the group, but I didn't care, I just kept walking. I heard someone coming after me, so I started running. If they were anything like everyone else in my life, they wouldn't follow. I made it all the way to my car, and actually managed to get in before they caught up. Unfortunately for me, they got into the passenger seat.

"Get out of my car." I said.

"Not until you talk to me. Why do you have such a problem with the world?" Rosalina asked.

"Did you ever think maybe it's the world that has a problem with me, not the other way around?"

"Whatever you wanna call it, Nat. But what happened to you that you got to be this bitter?"

"Frankly, it's none of your business. Now get out of my car."

"I already told you, not until you talk to me."

"You just don't know when to let it go, do you? Fine, you want me to tell you? I got stabbed in the back by three of my closest friends. They betrayed me and left me to be nothing while they went off and became successful. The worst part of it was that I tried to continue fighting towards my dream, even after that, but life gave me a quick dose of reality. You don't get your dreams, and the quicker that lesson is learned, the easier it is to get through life." I don't know why ifelt compelled to tell her, but for some reason I did. Not that I'll ever admit it to anyone, but it did feel kind of good to let it out.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? I don't think you're right, though, about not being able to get your dreams. It just depends how hard you work towards it. What was the dream you were chasing?"

"It doesn't matter now, Rosalina. I gave up the hope for it a long time ago."

"So? That doesn't make it any less important. It was a big deal to you once, so embrace that."

"It's kinda dumb, but if you must know, I wanted to be a rockstar in a band with me, my brother, and my friends. Well, I guess they weren't really friends. Only friend I have is Cooper, and I don't know why he puts up with me. Nobody else does, and good riddance to them."

"If I may make a suggestion, that attitude might be part of it. Try being more open to making friends. And please don't quit school already just because you were having a hard time with me." She reached across and grabbed one of my hands. I quickly pulled it away.

"Why do you even care if I stay or leave? I'm just another person to you, anyways."

"That isn't true, Nat. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I feel like we've met before, and I want to do everything I can to help you out. Just, promise me you'll stay through your first year of school. If you still hate it at the end of your freshman year, I won't say a word against you dropping out."

"Fine, I'll stay, but not because you're asking me to. Because the only reason Cooper came to this school is because of me, and I'll feel somewhat bad if I don't even give this place a chance. Cooper will have wasted his time."

"Whatever gets you to stay. Now, let's head over to the dining hall for lunch." We both got out of the car and went to the dining hall. I didn't say anything else to Rosalina. It felt weird enough having opened up to her as much as I did. Not to mention the fact that she felt like we had met before, too. That was a mystery I would certainly have to solve before the year was up. We got to the dining hall and I managed to find Cooper.

"Hey Nat! I thought you were long gone. What made you stay?"

"A mystery. I feel like I know Rosalina from somewhere, and I want to figure out where I know her from." Cooper tensed as I said this. "What's the deal, Cooper? Anytime I talk about Rosalina, you get nervous. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nat, you know I tell you everything. I'm the only one who's always been totally honest with you. Well, me and your brother, but…"

"As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a brother. Now, back to what you aren't telling me about Rosalina."

"I've told you everything I know about her, I swear."

Another lie. It didn't matter. I would find the truth.

Who in the world are you, Rosalina?

**And there it is. Honest reviews rock. You can say it's terrible, or that you loved it, or whatever you feel needs to be said about it. As long you say something in that lovely little box right there.**


	4. Qaasim Middleton

**Ok, I would like to apologize for breaking my promise when I last posted and not posting as much as I would like. Unfortunately, my laptop decided to die on me, and being up at school, I didn't have much access to a computer to type chapters without using a computer that another student may have needed to work on their actual schoolwork. BUT! I'm home now AND got a new, functioning laptop! As soon as I fully get back into the flow of writing again, I'll be posting a lot more often. To those of you who have followed and favorite me and my stories, even when I wasn't posting, thank you so much! Every single one of you are the reason I keep wanting to write on here. Ok, a little cheesy, but oh well. Well, I've rambled on long enough. On we go!**

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After lunch, we did these 'team building exercises.' I thought that these should be considered a form of torture in the deepest pits of hell. All they want us to do is make friends, and the last thing I need is more people to stab me in the back. During one of the exercises, don't ask me which one, I bumped into this kid with black dreadlocks for hair.

"So sorry about that, just trying to move to the next group, you know?" The kids said. I could tell he was chill about pretty much everything, but that he was also a smart kid. Probably also a ladies' man, or at least he thought he was.

"It's fine, just watch where you're going next time." I told him.

"Will do, my brother. By the way, what's your name?"

"Nat. Nat Wolff." I don't know why I told this kid my name, instead of telling him to shove off, but I couldn't take it back now.

"That's cool. I'll try to remember that."

"If you don't, it's no big deal. Nobody ever remembers it, anyways. You wouldn't want to break tradition." He laughed when I said that.

"Hey, at least your name is pronounceable. People take one look at my name and get confused. I swear I've heard every mispronunciation of my name there is."

"Not that I really care, but what is your name?" I asked him.

"Qaasim. Qaasim Middleton. From the New York area."

"Small world, that's the area I'm from."

"You're kidding me! What school did you go to?"

"It was a small school. You probably never heard of it. Amigos."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about Amigos Elementary and High schools. Aren't they the schools the members of the Gold Boulders attended before they got really famous?" I clenched my right hand into a fist and had a scowl on my face. This guy did the one thing that annoyed me to no end. He brought _them_ up. He noticed the look on my face and realized he'd made a mistake.

"I can see I hit a sensitive spot. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's fine. I just have absolutely no love for those idiots who call themselves the Gold Boulders."

"Honestly, neither am I. Their music is terrible. No creativity at all. They could be singing songs about the girl of their dreams or how they'll do anything for a girl…heck, they could even be singing about a bad break up and how the girl they loved is just a girl they know. But no! They decide to sing songs like Boys Rule, Girls Drool and I'm the God of Rock and Roll, which uses the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the ABCs. Coincidentally, that tune was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."

"That's actually pretty interesting. I don't usually pay much attention to the world of music. My childhood kind of ruined music for me." I warmed up to Qaasim. He seemed decent enough, and he certainly earned my respect for disliking the Gold Boulders.

"Well Nat, college is a new start. Maybe you can find a way past whatever happened and find yourself involved in music again."

"Maybe, but I doubt it."

"Well, it should be interesting to see what we experience up here." The leaders announced that we would be moving to a final review of our schedules, to make sure we were on the right track for our majors. Though we had help the last time we were here, they said it never hurt to have another pair of eyes. As I looked around the large gymnasium, I noticed Rosalina talking to some guy with grey hair, a goatee, and oval shaped glasses. She pointed right at me, and the man followed the direction of her pointing, looking right at me. Why was Rosalina talking to some old guy about me? I guess I'll find out sooner or later.

When I finally arrived at the office of the person who was reviewing my first semester classes, she looked at me sternly.

"Tut, tut. You're late."

"Sorry, I got lost."

"I did not give you permission to speak. Now, it says here that you are an undeclared major. Is that right?"

"Yes." Why wouldn't it be? It's not like anything magically changed.

"Very well. I see you are taking many liberal studies, or basic college classes that all of our students must take. College Writing, which means you did fairly well on our placement test; a math class, which you seem to be taking College Algebra; General Psychology; Introduction to Sociology; and a physics class with lab. You are aware that your course load totals to 16 credits, correct?"

"Yes, I am aware of that fact."

"You do realize that most freshmen start with a course load of only 13-14 credits, so that they may take the necessary time to adjust themselves to living away from their parents accordingly, correct?"

"No offense, ma'am, but you're making the assumption I've ever even had my father there. Sure he's still around, but he's been too busy making sure my brother got to where he needed to go for his jazz gigs. When he wasn't supporting my brother, he was playing his stupid accordion. So I'm pretty capable of living on my own without a parent around as it is."

"You will never speak to me in that manner again, young man, unless you wish to find yourself having serious problems on this campus."

"Yeah, whatever."

"The proper response is 'yes ma'am.'" I grumbled it out, which seemed to satisfy her. She signed the bottom of the paper, saying she approved of the classes I was taking, and sent me on my way. I had a couple of hours before the welcome dance for us freshmen. I went back to my room and lay across my bed. I hadn't decorated the walls or anything, because there was nothing of any serious interest to me. Most people put up posters of their favorite bands, or celebrities, or whatever else floated their stupid boats. I was a loner, so nothing really stood out to me. I unintentionally fell asleep for a bit. I was awoken by Cooper shaking me.

"Nat, come on, the dance is about to start. You know it's mandatory attendance."

"Yeah, well their 'mandatory attendance' can suck my…"

"Nat!" Cooper interrupted before I could finish the sentence. "Just come on. You can't avoid it, so you might as well at least get it over with." I grumbled, but got off my bed. Cooper and I walked back to the gymnasium, where the dance was being held. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. But when we got there, the lights had been dimmed, expected for some colored spotlights that were being shone around the room, occasionally even moving. I immediately made a beeline for the food table, and once I got food, to sit at a table for the rest of the night. They said I had to be here, they never said I had to do anything, especially dance. Unfortunately, my plan crumbled before it even truly began. I heard someone sit down in a chair at the same table I was sitting at. I turned to find Rosalina.

"Hey, Nat!" She yelled over the music. I just waved, acknowledging that I heard her. "Why aren't you out on the dance floor?"

"I don't dance. Actually, I don't do much of anything." I told her. She shook her head.

"Well tonight you do dance, even if I have to drag you out there and have my friends force you to stay. Believe me, they've done it before and they'll do it again."

"Thanks, but no thanks."

"What if I promise you a couple of dances? I know the DJ won't be playing slow sings. Most of you barely know each other, so very few people would be dancing during those, but we can still dance together for other songs."

"You think I'm one of those shallow jerks who can be bought with dances with you? Why didn't you just promise me that after the dance you'd make out with me? You know, Rosalina, you really are something else." I got up and walked away, but of course Rosalina stopped me by grabbing my arm.

"I'm sorry. I should have known that wouldn't work with you. It's just something I've gotten used to. It usually does work with most guys."

"Yeah, well you think you'd have learned that I'm not most guys."

"I won't forget it again." She said as she smiled sheepishly. I shook my head and was about to say something to her when I heard a loud pitched, girly scream.

"AHHHH! OH! MY! GOD! NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY!"


	5. The Past Catches Up

At first I thought that someone had simply seen one of their friends and had gotten overly excited. But then everyone who had been on the dance floor rushed towards the door, eager to see whoever had come in.

"Oh great, what's this supposed to be? Did the school mascot come in and all these stupid freshman flocked to it, trying to get a picture?" I asked as I sat down, clearly just trying to emphasize how stupid I thought my classmates were.

"Oh no, the mascot isn't even coming tonight. No, those are the…new famous students. You know, one of those things where celebrities try and act like their normal by going to school like normal people do? Some celebrities actually do manage to be normal and all, but most of the time it's because they haven't been on TV since their one and only popular show or something like that. Anyone who has a big name usually would have more trouble. Honestly, I wonder what it'd be like, trying to live a normal life while being famous." Rosalina said. I looked at her, impressed that she was actually not glamorizing the idea of being famous.

"Bet it's not all it's cracked up to be. No privacy, tabloids making up a relationship with co-workers and every single person they see you with…sorry, but I'll take the natural normal life any day." I said, making Rosalina laugh. Her laugh was slightly contagious, because I started to laugh a little, too, before I got it under control. Unfortunately, she heard.

"Do my ears deceive me!? Did the stone-wall, emotionless, uncaring Nat Wolff just laugh?" She asked, clearly enjoying the moment. I just shook my head, resisting the urge to give her a rude hand gesture.

"So who were you talking to earlier, at those team building exercises?"

"What? What are you talking about? I was talking to a lot of people, then." She quickly got flustered.

"Yes, but there was only one guy with whom you were talking and pointed at me during the discussion. He was an older man, with gray hair, a goatee, and oval glasses."

"Oh, him…he's kinda…well he's just…" She was close. I almost could have gotten the answer from her. Unfortunately, fate decided to intervene and save Rosalina, for now.

"HEY BOOBALINA!" Some kid yelled. We both looked and I swear I nearly fell out of my seat.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Joshua?" She asked him when he got to our table. This goon was Joshua Kaye, former member of the Silver Boulders. He was tailed by his two fellow bandmates, David Levi and Thomas Batuello. Before anyone could say anything to me, I got up and left. I had initially planned to just head for the bathroom, but any of those three idiots could follow me in there. If I decided to roam around campus, it was much less likely that I would be found.

Why did life hate me so much? What did I ever do to deserve having to go to school with the three people I never wanted to see again? I know I'd been horrible to everyone I've ever met since I had been compared to Mussolini, but was that really enough to suffer this fate? And what would Rosalina think once she figured out who I really am? Would she turn on me like everyone else, or would she stand by me, having taken the time to actually get to know the real me? Wait! Why did I care what Rosalina thought of me? I don't care what anyone thinks of me! I'm my own person, a loner, isolating myself from the world. Rosalina can think what she wants, it doesn't bother me in the slightest!

The only thing that really bothered me was what Josh had called her. Boobalina. I had heard that nickname before. It vibrated through me, as if it was trying to make itself heard from the past, bringing itself through my memories to the present. But I couldn't remember why. Either way, I had another clue to try and figure out who Rosalina was. Joshua Kaye knew her, and called her Boobalina. How old are we again, that he's using THAT nickname for her?

After about an hour of just roaming around campus, I decided that it was time to head back to my room and get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow would provide more answers. Tomorrow would be Sunday, the day before classes would start. As I collapsed on my bed, I began to wonder what classes would bring for me, though I doubted they'd bring much more than I expected, more people to hate and more work that I was smart enough to actually do. With that cheerful thought, my eyes slid closed and I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_I walked into Amigos Elementary, ready for another day at school. It was the first day back after the Gold Boulders concert. I was now officially a nobody, but that didn't matter to me. I was still Nat Wolff, rockstar. People would remember what I did with the Silver Boulders before we disbanded. However, my hopes were soon dashed. People who usually made way for me in the halls now didn't even notice my presence. One kid even shoved me against the lockers. As I slammed into the lockers, my whole body shook, jarred from the impact. I brushed it off, though. Just because a couple of people were taking it badly didn't mean everyone would._

_ I made it through to lunch with only a couple more instances of getting books knocked out of my hands or slammed into lockers again. I got my tray and tried to find somewhere to sit, now that I no longer wanted to sit with Thomas, David, and Josh. Unfortunately, nobody welcomed me. In fact, everyone glared at me._

_ "Go home, dictator!" Someone yelled. What was a dictator? Did this have to do with Mort's stupid Mussolini comment? Nobody said anything in my defense; in fact, nobody said anything else at all. Then, one of the kids who did nothing but talk about football came up to me. I had a few seconds of hope before those came crashing down. He picked the milk up off my tray, smacked the tray out of my hand, then opened the milk and dumped it over my head._

_ "Wha…what was that for?" I asked, trying not to cry._

_ "Because my mom said that you're a bad kid, and that I could be as mean as I wanted to you and I wouldn't be punished. She said you like to yell at people, making them do what you want." This kid I had never talked to said. Principal Schmoke walked into the cafeteria. Finally, someone who would do something! But he just turned around and walked out, leaving me alone with a cafeteria full of people who hated me. Never before had I been as alone in the world as I was now._

* * *

I sat straight up, panting heavily. It had been a long time since I had had nightmares about stuff that had happened in elementary school. I lay back down, rolled over, and went back to sleep, hoping that the past wouldn't continue to haunt me.

**Ok, I really don't know how I feel about this chapter. I could only drag the tension between Nat and Rosalina on for so long before it got old. I promise I know what I want this story to do, I'm just having problems figuring out how to get it there in writing.**

**Reviews are always appreciated!**

**P.S. I figured I'd address this just because it was mentioned in a review...I'm a guy who just happens to be a huge NBB fan and has no problem proudly showing it, whatever anyone thinks of him because of it**


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